Page 48 of A Little Highland Magic

Chapter Seventeen

Graeme tightened his hand around Aria’s as the swirling mist engulfed them. A dizzying sensation came over him, and for a moment he felt as though the ground beneath his boots shifted. The mist disappeared. The blue light was replaced with daylight. The stone circle had vanished, replaced by a circle of rowan trees. He stood in a forest and a warm summer breeze caressed his face, carrying the spicy scent of heather and the sweet smell of grassy fields beyond.

He went to squeeze Aria’s hand only to see nothing in his hand when he looked down. “Aria?” His heart stumbled when he realised he stood alone. Aria and Gille were nowhere in sight.

For the first time in a very long while, fear sank inside him. He had not allowed the emotion to take a hold of him in years. Fear had no place in battle. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts and his emotions. Even so, the feel of Aria’s hand in his remained. He recalled the warmth of her touch and for a heartbeat he gave in to the sensation.

Whenever he was with Aria time seemed to slow down, and peace filled him. She had awakened some foreign part of himself. A part that desperately craved caring about someone, having someone care about him. With Aria he did not have to always be the strongest, the bravest, the most willing to put his life on the line because she had strength too. They complemented each other. She completed him in a way no one ever had before.

He let out a long, agonised breath. Aria was his strength, but she was also his weakness. He would do anything to protect her, to erase the pain and loneliness he saw in her gaze at times. An aching tenderness replaced his fear. He closed his eyes and, in his mind, reached out to her, wove his fingers around hers once more. He took her into his arms and, without words, let her know she was not as alone as she thought—not here in Fairyland, not in the human realm.

He opened his eyes and started walking through the trees. He had to find Aria and Gille. The sooner they found each other the sooner they could return to the life he had imagined for them. A life where he and Aria would never be separated again.

*

Dazed and disorientated from the portal, Gille set her feet firmly on the ground as she struggled to regain control of her senses. The only thing she was certain of in that moment was that she was alone. The three of them had been separated during their journey. But where had she ended up?

When her senses settled, Gille looked around her, trying to discern anything familiar. She was in a forest, rowan trees surrounded her, and the sun shone overhead. Green grasses stretched out endlessly before her, the tops heavy with seed that waved in the warm summer breeze.

Gille knew without a doubt that she was in Sunraya, the land of sunshine and joy; a place in Fairyland where summer lasted forever. Had the others been as fortunate? And how were they to now find each other?

A frown pulled down her lips as Gille looked about her. “Aria? Graeme?” She needed to find them and help them on their mission to return Keiran to his family. If she did not, she had no doubt that Aria would leave her behind, forgotten and alone once more. Fear fluttered in her stomach at the thought of being alone again. She had to find the others.

Ahead of her she could see a hill at the base of the mountains. Perhaps if she went higher, she could then see where Aria and Graeme were located. “Please do not have transported them to Crystalia, the land of snow and ice, where winter never ends.” Crystalia was her least favourite realm within Fairyland. If they were there, she was not sure she would go after them. Being alone was far better than being alone and frozen for the rest of her life.

She had to stay positive. First, she would hike up the hill and look around before she allowed herself to panic.

*

A spinning sensation swamped Aria and she felt as though she were falling through a tunnel of light and sound until it stopped, and she found herself standing in the middle of a forest. Her thoughts were jangled and her body tense. She closed her eyes. Memory flared and she recalled the whole horrible scene she had left behind.

Her mother was not coming with them. And Aria would never see Pearl again. She forced herself to relive every moment of their goodbye, not backing away from the searing emotions. If Oberon found her, then so be it. For she needed to feel every moment of pain, of fear, of abandonment, of rage, so that the overwhelming emotions would not consume her. And when she had felt every sensation, she tucked them away, distancing herself from the event as she always had in the past. It was how she had survived, not letting monsters or memories destroy her.

She forced her body to relax, muscle by muscle, and concentrated on the good things in her life. The MacLeods—her family, Graeme—her friend and counterpart, her skills—how she would continue to survive, because in that moment she noted something else: she was alone. Graeme and Gille were nowhere to be seen.

Where was she? Overhead the sun’s rays reached out to her, warming her. She was surrounded by rowan trees, heard the Trinity River flowing steadily to the east, and the scene resonated in her memory. She was on the northern slope of Sunraya. A realm adjacent to Lunaria, where the castle of the fairy king was located. The portal had transported them past many of the territories that made up Fairyland she had thought they would have to travel through. Instead, the portal had separated them, forcing them to spend precious time searching for each other.

They had to find each other, for none of them could take on Oberon alone and win. In this part of Fairyland, they were relatively safe. The fairies who lived here were full of joy and rarely played tricks on others. Still, there were fairy traps, even here. The golden fairies enjoyed luring strangers into their gardens, feeding them sweet treats and putting them to sleep, sometimes for centuries.

Graeme knew not to eat the food, but the fairies of Sunraya were persuasive, and even those who knew better would have a hard time resisting their melodious songs and gentle ways.

Aria turned north. For some reason her heart told her feet to head in that direction. She had to find Graeme before he encountered anything she might not be able to bring him back from.

*

Graeme headed north. He did not know why, but something inside him told him to start in that direction. He would systematically continue to search any part of Fairyland until he found both Aria and Gille.

Graeme’s senses were on alert as he moved through the trees. Slender beams of sunlight pierced the boughs overhead, stabbing the earth with brilliant pinpricks. After his time in the shadow realm, the yellow light was a welcome change. Dried leaves crunched beneath his feet as he continued, their fragrance sharp and pungent.

Ahead he could see a meadow, and he hastened towards it. Perhaps there he would have a better view of the area. As he broke through the trees, the air suddenly became thick, and silence fell around him. In the middle of the grassy area were two bodies lying face down. One wore a green gown the same colour Gille had worn, the other was dressed in blue. Aria?

Graeme’s heart refused to believe what he saw as he raced towards them. Dropping to his knees beside the body in blue, Graeme rolled the woman over onto her back. Long white hair framed a face with eyes that stared vacantly back at him.

Anguish swept through him. How could he have failed to protect Aria from this fate? What had happened inside the portal? He searched her body for a wound, anything to indicate an attack or foul play. But there was nothing.

For the first time in his life, he had failed to protect someone he loved. Pain snagged his heart. Loss was nothing new to him. He had lost many warriors over the years he and Alastair had fought overseas. But this loss dug deeper inside him than the others. It gutted him. It was his responsibility on this journey to keep Aria safe. And he had failed.

Unable to hold his emotions in check any longer, he cried out his pain, his anger, his frustration, his loss. Why Aria? Could it not have been he who had suffered this fate? For he would gladly have switched places with her.